Southern Tier Horseshoe Club
Johnson City, New York
Originally Lestershire, (Johnson City) was renamed in 1917 in honor of
the owners of the Endicott Johnson Shoe Corporation. At one time they employed over Twenty Four Thousand
employees and during WW-1 and WW-2 they produced almost all of the shoes used
by the armed services.
The Johnson’s believed in
giving their workers free essential services and provided health and dental
care, libraries, recreational facilities, and parks that included huge swimming
pools. There was a fine 18 hole golf course, and two bowling alleys. All parks had Merry Go Rounds
(carousals). Today there are still six,
each has recently been restored and all are operational, rides are still free
as Johnson had originally ordered..
A large pavilion was built
for special events, where both young couples and old, danced to the music of
bands like Glenn Miller, Harry James, and Benny Goodman.
Many E. J. factories in
Binghamton, Johnson City and Endicott had a horseshoe court next to the
building, where the men pitched during lunch hour. Charles F. Johnson noticed these makeshift
courts and learned that horseshoes were very popular with the workers. He instructed his maintenance crew to build
six regulation courts on the grounds of "Your Home Library" in
Johnson City and soon a club was formed.
At some point the club became sanctioned and two State Tournaments were
held there. In 1957 Carl Steinfeldt won with a ringer percentage of 76.5 and in 1958
he won with a 76.1.
Eventually the shoe company
came on hard times and was sold to U.S. Industries. Their management had better use planned for
that prized real estate, and so the club would soon be history. Players led by Frank Michalek
(Mr. Horseshoe) approached Charlie Johnson and he offered them a site on a
former farm once owned by the Green family.
These enterprising die-hard pitchers moved the courts, and in 1977 “The
Southern Tier Horseshoe Club” members began pitching again. Some of the founding members in addition to
Frank were, John Kozik, George Lovell, Chuck Prusik, John Zelaska, just to
name a few..
Two years later a youngster
by the name of Charles Reigles became a member and
because of his passion for the game and willingness to work on upkeep and
improvements, he soon began to wear many hats, tournament director, manager, secretary and maintenance man. Through the years there have been several
presidents and each made significant contributions, but Charlie has always been
the glue that keeps the club moving forward.
The courts at “Greens Field”
have survived the last two floods. After
each they have been repaired, rebuilt, restored and each time major
improvements have been made. The original
“youngster” is now getting on just a touch, but his son Charlie Jr. has stepped
up and beautifully maintains the eight new courts. Sand pits, full concrete runways with crushed
stone in between and long sturdy benches donated by several members grace the
grounds. A covered deck has recently been
added for shelter from the unpredictable Southern Tier weather.
The Southern Tiers indoor
courts “The Pits” came about in 1993. Ed Barrett of Universal Fence Company was
a club member and owned several large Morton storage buildings. John Kozik, George
Lovell, and Charlie Reigles, discovered Ed had
installed a court in one building for his personal use. They were invited to pitch there and soon a
second court was installed. It was not
long, before the fencing supplies were out, and 12 beautiful courts were ready
to go... Stan Hayes made and put up a large sign over the entrance to let
people know where the courts were located, it read "THE PITS" and so
the name remained. Unfortunately, the cost to operate such a large building in
a prime area became greater than the members could afford and in 2001 it was
closed.
Although the recent floods
destroyed all the memorabilia and photos taken at “The Pits”, Charlie and Stan
have donated many of their own, which are now on display at the clubhouse. Thanks to them, anyone who ever pitched in a
Southern Tier Tournament is likely to find their own picture, and recognize
friends from long ago.
From May through August the
doubles league meets on Monday, with singles league on Thursday. Also, there is a sanction singles tournament
planned for each year. Dates are
published on this web site. We hope to
see many of our friends from around N.Y. and
Greens Field courts location:
Rt. 17C Exit 70 North to Harry L Drive. Turn right, pass Toys R Us
and turn right at the Fire Station. Turn
right at the first gate, into the park to Southern Tier Horseshoe Club.
Officers:
President - Wes Searles
Vice President - Dennis Leonard
Treasurer - Stan Hayes
Secretary - Charles E. Reigles